Matt Konopka reviews ‘Hot Spot’, a dystopian sci-fi fairy tale that begs us to remember we are animals, not machines.
I first became aware of Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczynska with her debut feature, The Lure. An adult, horror-themed adaptation of The Little Mermaid, the hypnotic musical blew me out of the water. Now, she’s back with Hot Spot, a dystopian sci-fi fairy tale built on concerns over A.I. Though not quite as strong as The Lure, the director once again delivers a strange, stylish, utterly mesmerizing depiction of a world we should all be afraid of.
Penned by frequent collaborator Robert Bolesto, we’re dropped into an alternate universe where drought has ravaged the world. Society now depends on The Head, an A.I. system that human beings plug into to receive water and energy. Disconnect from The Head, and your body will eventually burst in an explosion of gore. Those who refuse are barred from entry. After a refugee is found brutally slain at a holding compound, detective Djonny (Andrzej Konopka) is on the case. Once there, he encounters Rana (Noomi Rapace), the leader of a religious group who is referred to as a “cyber witch” by wary guardsmen. The deeper Djonny digs into the case, the more he is forced to question existence without freedom.
While most sci-fi features open with something along the lines of “somewhere in the future,” Hot Spot takes us to a place that’s “nowhere in the future.” That’s an important distinction, because the world this story takes place in isn’t our own. At least, not quite. Smoczynska’s work traffics in the realm of fairy tales. That’s what this is. A sort of Grimm’s A.I. future, full of wonder and horror and devastating tragedy.
In the universe of , some characters look like elves (aliens?) that are never explained. Everyone carries creepy little worm critters, tools that suck up blood and transfuse it into water (waste not, want not). Animals other than humans have all but gone extinct. And then there’s Rapace’s cyber witch, someone with the ability to enter minds without The Head. All of it projects a sci-fi fantasy, just different enough from our own lived reality.
Hot Spot
A fantasy world that feels all too close for comfort.
Assisted by Jakub Kijowski’s stunning cinematography, the filmmaker takes us across a dusty desert landscape. The trees have all died; Nothing but barren branches stand as reminders of the planet that humans have sucked dry. What buildings are left match the vibe of their surroundings: dirty, decrepit, rotting. Though I must say, I wouldn’t complain much about living next to the coliseum where Djonny resides, even if the interior of his place and every other place is as bare-bones as it gets.
See, our protagonist, along with his wife, Ayka (Reika Kirishima), and their son, Zen (George Aurimas Cris), live a life of fabrication. They’re promised resources and safety, some semblance of community, but at what cost? At first, Smoczynska presents the world of Hot Spot as The Head might. We, the audience, may be aghast at the idea that the characters receive updates downloaded to their minds each morning. I cringed at the idea that they access each other’s thoughts. Vocal speech is irrelevant in Hot Spot. One early scene has Djonny “call” his wife from the car, able to enter her head and wake her up for the day. Everyone’s all smiles and cheer during the opening, but what we see isn’t cheerful. The smiles are nothing but an act, because this world is miserable. Not to mention horrifying.
The filmmaker has a way of haunting the audience. Like her other films, Hot Spot washes over you with a wave of spell-binding imagery that captivates and unsettles all at once. Yet it’s a specific line from Zen that haunts me more than anything. “I miss loneliness the most”, he says. We all have our moments, yet I’m not sure any of us wish to be lonely. But in this universe, loneliness is a luxury. And Hot Spot is never more unnerving than when it makes you consider life without a single moment of peace. Anywhere, anytime, someone can enter your mind. You can see what each other sees. Worse, The Head is always there.
Surprisingly, the core conflict has less to do with Djonny, Rana, and the case, and more to do with Ayka. In another chilling depiction of the future A.I. bros yearn for, Djonny solves the murder quite quickly, able to invade the memories of a suspect and confirm guilt instantly. We learn that this is a society where executions are public and unavoidable. At any given time, The Head can stop you in your tracks to show you death. Ayka disconnects Zen so he doesn’t have to witness such ugliness. Each disconnection causes issues, though, and those issues lead Djonny, a loyal servant of The Head, to question who he really is.
Hot Spot refuses to be tied down by any one genre. That said, there’s plenty of horror here, and not just through the implications of The Head. Though not necessarily a violent film, the filmmaker refuses to let us look away from what violence there is. Instead, Smoczynska juxtaposes the fabricated environment the characters live in with the brutality of reality. Heads explode like we’re in Cronenberg’s Scanners. Corpses have their eyes gouged out and heads tied around their naked waist. One exceptionally gruesome face tear will live in my nightmares for weeks. Smoczynska never wastes an opportunity to get under our skin.
Because the film lives in a fantasy world without definition, it’s easy to find yourself lost during the first watch or two due to the various questions that arise. That includes a rather perplexing theme of the primal nature that guides us, resulting in a soundtrack of roaring animals and other unexpected occurrences that follow Djonny throughout. The filmmaker isn’t interested in holding your hand, nor do I want them to. But that does leave Hot Spot just convoluted enough to remain an arm’s length away.
That goes for the characters as well. For example, when Djonny first runs into his old boss, it’s mentioned that he’s now back in the good graces of The Head. We never learn any more than that about his backstory, or who he really is. For a film about a world where everyone knows everything about everyone, we don’t know much at all about what drives the characters. Djonny finds himself on a bit of a descent into madness about halfway through. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what exactly triggers it. All we really know about him is that he has impeccable taste, decked out in fur or wearing a leather jacket with a kilt. He’s unlike any detective you’ve ever seen, and I love that. But I found myself wishing to go deeper with him and Rana, another character we barely know, despite an otherwise excellent performance from Rapace.
Hot Spot is both a compilation of dystopian sci-fi films that have come before and unlike anything else out there. It has elements of Blade Runner, Strange Days, and Robocop, yet with Smoczynska’s wholly unique sense of style and affection for music (you better believe there’s a musical number). Yes, it sags a bit in the middle, and yes, it suffers from an inexplicable nature unbound by any sense of logic, but damn it, I can’t stop thinking about it. This is one of the more thought-provoking commentaries on A.I. in recent memory…one that begs us to remember we are animals, not machines.
Enter Hot Spot when the film uploads to theaters on August 21st via Focus Features.
![‘Hot Spot’ Uploads a Grim Yet Stylish and Thought-Provoking A.I. Dystopia [Review]](https://www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/hot-spot-1200x675.jpg)
